Fish and habitat community assessments on North Carolina shipwrecks: potential sites for detecting climate change in the graveyard of the Atlantic

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS) was the nation’s first sanctuary, originally established in 1975 to protect the famous civil war ironclad shipwreck, the USS Monitor. Since 2008, sanctuary sponsored archeological research has branched out to include historically significant U-boats and World War II shipwrecks within the larger Graveyard of the Atlantic off the coast of North Carolina. These shipwrecks are not only important for their cultural value, but also as habitat for a wide diversity of fishes, invertebrates and algal species. Additionally, due to their unique location within an important area for biological productivity, the sanctuary and other culturally valuable shipwrecks within the Graveyard of the Atlantic are potential sites for examining community change. For this reason, from June 8-30, 2010, biological and ecological investigations were conducted at four World War II shipwrecks (Keshena, City of Atlanta, Dixie Arrow, EM Clark), as part of the MNMS 2010 Battle of the Atlantic (BOTA) research project. At each shipwreck site, fish community surveys were conducted and benthic photo-quadrats were collected to characterize the mobile conspicuous fish, smaller prey fish, and sessile invertebrate and algal communities. In addition, temperature sensors were placed at all four shipwrecks previously mentioned, as well as an additional shipwreck, the Manuela. The data, which establishes a baseline condition to use in future assessments, suggest strong differences in both the fish and benthic communities among the surveyed shipwrecks based on the oceanographic zone (depth). In order to establish these shipwrecks as sites for detecting community change it is suggested that a subset of locations across the shelf be selected and repeatedly sampled over time. In order to reduce variability within sites for both the benthic and fish communities, a significant number of surveys should be conducted at each location. This sampling strategy will account for the natural differences in community structure that exist across the shelf due to the oceanographic regime, and allow robust statistical analyses of community differences over time.

Migration patterns of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in the North Pacific Ocean

From 1978 to 1988, approximately 71,000 spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) were tagged off the west coast of Canada. This program is the most extensive tagging study conducted for a shark species. Twelve years after the last year of tagging, recaptured tagged spiny dogfish are still being reported. As of December 2000, 2940 tagged fish (4.1%) have been recaptured. Spiny dogfish were tagged in three major areas: Strait of Georgia, west coast Vancouver Island, and northern British Columbia waters. Generally, spiny dogfish were recaptured close to their release site; however, extensive migrations (up to 7000 km) did occur. Migration rates varied across release areas. Spiny dogfish tagged in the Strait of Georgia underwent the least extensive movement; only 10–14% of the recaptures occurred outside the strait. Spiny dogfish tagged off the west coast of Vancouver Island or in northern British Columbia waters underwent more extensive movement; approximately 49–80% of the tagged spiny dogfish recaptured outside of the release areas. Spiny dogfish from all three release areas were recaptured off the west coast of United States and Alaska. Most impressive are the recaptures of tagged spiny dogfish off the coast of Japan. Over 30 spiny dog-fish were recaptured near Japan, most of which originated off the west coast of Vancouver Island or from northern British Columbia waters.

The Development of Ceylon's fisheries (a symposium)

In July, 1964, it was decided that a Government Fisheries Corporation be set up. At the request of the Directors-designate of this Corporation a series of lectures on the development of Ceylon's fisheries was organised by the Fisheries Research Station, all except two being delivered at a seminar on 15th September, 1964. The speakers were asked to prepare and submit their texts and these are presented in the sequence in which the talks themselves were delivered: 1. Ceylon's fisheries: past and future (A.C.J. Weerekoon) 2. Fisheries by-products (C.St.E. Gunesekara) 3. The role of technology in fisheries development in Ceylon (N.N. De Silva) 4. Seaweeds (M. Durairatnam) 5. Coastal fisheries (T.P. Goonewardente) 6. The trawler fishery (A.S. Mendis) 7. A review of Japan's tuna long-line fishery in the Indian Ocean (K. Sivasubramaniam) 8. Off shore and deep sea fishery for larger scombroids in the Indian Ocean (K. Sivasubramaniam) 9. The development of fresh water fisheries in Ceylon (H.H.A. Indrasena) 10. Brackish-water fish farming in Ceylon (T.G. Pillai) 11. The role of inland waters in relation to the development of Ceylon's fisheries and a note on the pearl oyster fishery (C.H. Fernando) 12. The mechanization of the inshore fisheries and the relationship to fisheries development in Ceylon (E. Kvaran)

PICES Press, Vol. 17, No. 2, July 2009

Major Outcomes from the 2009 PICES Annual Meeting: A Note from the Chairman (pdf, 0.1 Mb) The FUTURE is Here (pdf, 0.1 Mb) PICES Harmful Algal Bloom International Seafood Safety Project (pdf, 0.3 Mb) PICES at the 2009 GLOBEC Open Science Meeting (pdf, 0.4 Mb) Modeling Ecosystems and Ocean Processes Workshop (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Krill Biology and Ecology Workshop (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Polar and Sub-Polar Marine Ecosystems Workshop (pdf, 0.4 Mb) Biogeochemistry of the Oceans in a Changing Climate Workshop (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys of the Global Oceans (pdf, 0.4 Mb) Plankton Phenology Workshop (pdf, 0.2 Mb) Workshop on “Climate Impact on Ecosystem Dynamics of Marginal Seas” (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Erratum (pdf, 0.4 Mb) The State of the Western North Pacific in the Second Half of 2008 (pdf, 0.2 Mb) State of the Northeast Pacific into early 2009 (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Current Status of the Bering Sea Ecosystem (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 2009 Salmon Forecasting Forum (pdf, 0.3 Mb) The Third Argo Science Workshop: “The Future of Argo” (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 2009 ESSAS Annual Science Meeting (pdf, 0.1 Mb) A Visit Fit for an Emperor and Empress of Japan (pdf, 0.9 Mb)

Trade and Management: Exclusive Economic Zones and the Changing Japanese Surimi Market

The United States' increasing competitive advantage in international seafood trade in Alaska walleye pollock. Theragra chalcogramma, has contributed to higher prices for surimi-based goods and structural changes in seafood production and trade in Japan. The objectives of this analytical investigation include: 1) Evaluation of the role reversal of Japan and the United States in international seafood trade and 2) quantification of the impact of rising prices of frozen surimi on household consumption of surimi-based foods in Japan. This study documents Japan's regression from "seafood self-sufficiency" to increasing dependence on imported products and raw materials. In particular, Japan's growing dependence on American fishermen and seafood producers is described. Surimi production by the United States, and its emerging dominance over Japanese sources of supply, are especially significant. Results of the analysis suggest that Japanese consumer demand for surimi-based food stuffs correlates directly with "competitive" food prices, e.g., pork, chicken, and beef, and inversely with personal income. Also revealed is how rising household income and relative price shifts among competing animal protein sources in the Japanese diet have contributed to declining household consumption of surimi-based foods, specifically, and a shift away from seafoods in favor of beef, in general. The linkages between, for example. Japanese domestic seafood production and consumption, international trade in marine products, and resource management decisions in the U.S. EEZ present a picture of a changing global marketplace. Increasingly, actions in one arena will have perhaps profound implications in the others.